Lets talk reality Has any government in the world met youth needs? Do we need a single youth structure to deal with young peoples demands in our changing environment? This week marks another history in South African national democratic revolution under the leadership of the peoples movement the African National Congress. Twenty-seven years on the 28th of March 1987 SAYCO was launched to mobile non-student youth. On its founding, South African Youth Congress adopted the Freedom Charter and pledged to work with Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the then National Education Crisis Committee, and was affiliated to the United Democratic Front. Let us salute the young people who took part and sacrificed their lives for the freedom we have today. They faced live ammunition daily, they experienced the brutality of the apartheid racist police, and they left good life for liberation. Today, we have a right to vote in this country of our birthright because of the dedication, discipline and patriotism of young people who saw it necessary to unite and fight the scourge of apartheid as a united force. Its principle objectives were: * Unifying and politicizing all progressive youth irrespective of race, colour or creed * Encouraging the youth to join trade unions * Ensuring that women participated fully in the activities of the youth movement Resolutions passed at its inaugural conference included: * Demands for the lifting of the state of emergency * The withdrawal of troops from townships * The unconditional release of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners * The unbanning of the ANC and other organizations Clearly SAYCO, like other organizations, represented a challenge to apartheid particularly with regard to its call for the release of political prisoners, and the unbanning of the ANC, as these were calls for the leadership of the ANC in a democratic South Africa. Inherently socialist, SAYCO strove toward an alliance with COSATU, and saw the vanguard role as belonging to the working parents whom they saw as being the decisive force in the liberation struggle. At the local level its general aims were to: * Normalise the relationship between youth and parents * To create a spirit of trust, responsibility and understanding amongst the youth * To directly involve the youth in community projects * To instill a spirit of health and determination in disillusioned young people * To encourage the youth to strive for a better system of education and complete their education full time or part time. Source; S A History Online Together we move South Africa forward
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 17:20:48 +0000
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